“you can discover more about a person in one hour of play, than in a year of conversation” –Plato

Play illuminates the spirit of humanity. It is one of strength, love, and human connection interwoven by something that exists outside of us--indescribable. No one can make "spirit." It's the dynamic force that is. Everyone should go to the park at least once a week to explore, observe, and break away from their laptop computers and cell phones to be a human once again.

The connection to the human spirit was palpable tonight at the park. I jumped in on a double dutch session, the team was rapping up for the summer. A double dutch team? Yes, crazy I know. I hadn’t hopped into a double dutch match since I was in elementary school. The man sensed my reluctance, “come on don’t be afraid.” After a brief pause of fear, I went in, hard and fast. “Yeah, I like it she’s fearless.” I jumped for 5 seconds, but even in those 5 seconds I learned how someone else saw me in play: “fearless.” A perfect stranger had identified one of my character strengths. It was a beautiful moment.

Bodies moving swift, shirts drenched in sweat, legs in the air, yes this was the spirit of soccer, and it drew me close, but only to the edge. I was not bold enough to ask if I could play. Near the end of the game, I started talking to Abdi who had been injured as soon as he got in the game. He told me of his girlfriend who had just broken up with him. They were no longer eating lunch together at the lunch tables. He was in high school and he most definitely thought I was too!

As I walked home, I noticed a woman playing basketball alone. This is where I felt most at home to ask, “Can I play with you?” “Sure,” she said. After missing half my shots, the woman, Selena, told me I had to use my hands to “push up and out” rather than just “out.” She said a younger boy on the court had taught her how to shoot. And now Selena was teaching me. With small talk in between tries, I found that she worked for a cancer research center. She said she was working on ovarian cancer research. She said, that I could become a part of a study for ovarian cancer research. My aunt died four months ago after battling ovarian cancer for 11 years.

In that very moment I knew: spirit. That unidentifiable and indescribable ethereal thing that connects human to human with purpose. Sometimes even hard to understand. We tried to define spirituality in class today. The professor asked, “What is spirituality?” I was so frustrated we were trying to define something that in my mind can only be felt. But alas, everyone has a different interpretation of God and Spirit and the discourse around this question made me frustrated and confused in class. The articulations of spirituality in class were quite overwhelming, until, I got to the park, and I encountered spirit through play.